Love Charms (57 page)

22: Bad
Intentions

"Do you have any sort of plan?"
Hallow asked. "The last time you went charging into the night, you wound
up behind bars."

"Hush," I said. "I'll
think of something." I pulled the bottle of sea foam from my pocket.
"I have this, which means I can make the passion potion. Maybe that will
put Dei Lucrii off for a while."

Hallow snorted. "Right. He'll
probably use it on you as soon as he sees the mark."

"I'm pretty sure he already
knows." I turned the vial around in my hand. "Dad, what do you know
about the original offer from Dei Lucrii? If Mom knew he was coming for me, she
never would have done it."

"I agree." Dad wiped at the
smudges of smoke still on his hands. "She only told me that an enchanter
had found her, but not to worry, she was just going to do what he asked and
hopefully he'd leave us alone."

I turned to Mavis. "Did she tell you
any more? You obviously knew about Dad."

Mavis swallowed. "Dei Lucrii was
after a Golden Nix — they are pretty rare — and wanted a potion to
make her be more, well, amenable to his attention. Such a creature is a grave
threat, as a nix is what breeds Dark Enchanters." She patted my shoulder.
"That's why we kept Jet here hidden."

I frowned. "So Dei Lucrii wanted
this illegal potion, one that violated enchanter code, and thought he could
blackmail Mom into making it, since she was in hiding?"

Hallow hopped up on the table. "The
original deal was just for the potion. I was there when the transaction took
place. But Tess needed a lot of capital to buy the ingredients. She refused to
go to the spirit world and harvest them herself since she couldn't leave Frank
and Jet unprotected."

Dad stepped forward. "So that's why
she borrowed all the money."

"Dei Lucrii could afford to pay her
when it was done," Mavis said. "But when the first few didn't work
out, she had to find stronger ingredients."

I whirled around to Hallow. "Where
did she get that last batch of sea foam?"

"Dei Lucrii brought that one
himself," Hallow said.

Dad pushed away from the wall. "So
you think Dei Lucrii set up the potion to explode?"

My throat was threatening to close up.
"I don't know that he knew. He's being all nicey nice to me for someone
who killed my mother. But at Martel's house, there were definitely the
ingredients to set it up." I remembered the book. "Have any Goldens
been abducted? The Book of Shadows in Martel's house had the explosive potion
in it, and a Golden was the last owner."

"What was the name?"

Shoot, I couldn't remember. "I don't
know. Nothing normal."

Mavis shook her head. "There are
only three reigning Goldens: Cristaba, Deja, and Ellondra. No one's been
stolen, and the last one to be harmed was your grandmother."

I turned to Dad. "Gem and Grandpa
did not die in a car accident."

He signed. "I know. She was
killed."

"By Dei Lucrii's father."

"He's a terrible man," Mavis
said. "Martel was exiled for breeding nixes, trying to create a golden
line, and after that he just didn't care who he hurt. His son has been
halfheartedly looking for gold as well, prodded by the father, but as far as I
know, he would not kill anyone. He's more of a snake charmer. Tess believed Jet
was safe."

Dad exhaled in a long slow rush. "So
it appears that between the time Dei Lucrii made the original deal with Tess
and when he brought the explosive foam, his father found out who you were and
arranged for her to die, knowing it would flush you out."

"They know you are a Golden?"
Mavis asked.

I nodded. "I'm sure of it. He said
he'd make me create a portal. I don't think a nix can do that."

Mavis shook her head. "No, only a
Golden can create them. At every enchanter birth, the Golden presides, marks
the baby, and creates their portal if they are enchanters."

"A nix doesn't get one?"

"No," Mavis said. "But she
can use any that she comes across."

I sank into the chair. "Well, that's
it. I don't see any way to get Dei Lucrii to leave me alone. If Martel wants
me, maybe I should just make the potion and take it myself."

"No!" Dad said. "These
people are animals!"

"At least I'll be happy with him,
then."

Dad grabbed my shoulders. "I won't
let you do that."

Mavis wrung her hands. "There's got
to be another way."

A knock at the entrance of the lair
startled all of us. "Mom? I think dinner's burning." It was Rah, the
annoying daughter.

I no more had the most ridiculous idea in
my head when suddenly everything went black.

* * *

I lay on my back in Santaland, my face
covered with fake white beards. I sat up. How did I end up in Mavis's front
room?

Footsteps thundered from farther back in
the house. Dad and Mavis were running for the front door, but they halted when
they saw me lying in a pile of red velvet.

Rah came in after them and laughed.
"Overcome with Christmas spirit?"

"What are you doing out here?"
Dad asked.

Mavis crossed her arms over her chest.
"What are your bad intentions, Jet?"

She was on to me.

"I had a crazy notion about Rah,
that was all."

Mavis drew her daughter close.
"Leave her out of this. She's isn't part of this world."

Rah jerked away. "Is this about your
crystal banging? I know all about it."

Mavis clasped Rah's face with both hands,
staring at her. "What do you know?"

"That you think it's magic."
She rolled her eyes. "I think it's dumb."

I pushed the Santas aside and struggled
to my feet. "Rah just made me realize that we might be able to bind Dei
Lucrii to a human, and then he wouldn't be able to breed with nixes or Goldens
anymore. We'd stop his line."

"He's already bred a half-dozen
brats," Hallow said. "He wouldn't stop."

"Mavis, how long does the potion
last?"

She glanced at Rah, as if wondering if
she should say anything more in front of her, then shrugged.
"Indefinitely, if it's made that way. One ingredient is just until the
binding ceremony — probably primrose. One would be until a child is born
— grasswort, most likely. Another could be until death. A trace amount of
Lyceria would do that, I bet. I can't do that sort of spell, so I'm not
sure."

Rah's eyes widened. "You people are
talking crazy."

"Go find your brother and
father," Mavis said. "Dinner's probably ruined."

Rah backed up but didn't leave the room.

I moved to the hallway. "I need to
get to Mom's lair. My idea was that if we could get Dei Lucrii to take his own
potion and bind him to someone else, then I wouldn't have to worry about
him."

Hallow leaped onto a table beside me.
"He'll never fall for it. Besides, who would be willing to bind to
him?"

"He's rich, right?" I asked,
looking at Rah. "And he looks like a movie star." She was pretending
to be uninterested, but I could tell she was listening. "I actually found
him pretty charming. There was a point during the spirit-world jaunt that I
just accepted my fate with him."

Rah moved closer. "You got a
picture?"

"Portal back with me," I said.
"You can meet him."

Mavis's face had gone red. "You are
obviously not a real Golden yet. What you are suggesting is not for the good of
my child."

But I remembered what Caleb had said.
"It's for the good of the world. But still, I have no intention of hurting
your girl."

"The lair threw you right out!"
She was furious.

"Right, right." Time to
retreat. "I'll think of another way." Maybe I could bind him to a
tree or something. Or a fairy. I glanced at Hallow. Or a ferret.

"Don't look at me that way,"
Hallow said.

"Let's get back to the lair," I
told Dad. "Let Mavis have her Christmas."

We walked through the linen closet. I
picked up the pouch of Poison Lyceria. If Mavis was right and this could bind
him to death, then I might want it. "You ready, Dad? Your last portal ride
was probably a little rough."

"I was glad to have skipped
lunch," he said. "But I'm ready to do it again."

"You remember the song, or should I
take you through?"

"The colorful whirl one,
right?"

"That's it. Remember that Dei Lucrii
doesn't know we are on to him at this point. You invite him into the house
while I finish his potion in the lair." I touched his shoulder. "Can
you do that? Can you be in the room with him, knowing he may have been a part of
Mom's death?"

He nodded. "It's part of his
takedown. Let's do this."

I picked up Hallow and started the chant.
Time to face the enemy.

23:
Hoo-Rah

Hallow wheezed at me on the floor of
Mom's lair. "Trying to squeeze the life out of me, nix?" He gestured
wildly at my forehead. "You might want to wear a hat. It's bloody chilly
in here."

Yikes. Right. I was marked correctly now.
I clapped my hand over my star and looked around for something to cover it
before Dei Lucrii realized I had changed it.

Dei Lucrii bent down to peer beneath the
half-raised garage door. Snow had drifted in and melted on the floor, leaking
in rivulets across the concrete.

I whipped away and lunged for a scarf on
a hook in the back corner, winding it around my head and covering as much of my
face as possible. "It's freezing in here! We left the door open!"

"You left in a hurry," Dei
Lucrii said. "Did I spook you?"

"Yes!" I said. He couldn't know
I was on to him, despite my dramatic exit at his house. "I got lost in the
portals! Sorry if I was rude."

Dad sailed through the portal then,
landing awkwardly on the floor. "Blooming brilliant way to travel,"
he said. He righted himself and waved at Dei Lucrii. "We have a guest!
Come on in!"

I tapped Dad on the back. "He'll
muss his very distinguished clothes. Bring him in through the front door."
I tried to smile with dazzle, but Hallow groaned. I shoved him with my shoe.

Dad didn't miss a beat. "Right-e-o,
Jet. Of course. Come around front, young man! I'll whip up some eggnog."
When Dei Lucrii walked away, Dad turned to me and squeezed my hand. "Do
well, Jet. I have faith in you."

He headed through the kitchen, and I
fought with the garage door to get it lowered again. Hallow waited on the desk
as I unwrapped my head. It was still wretchedly cold, so I used the scarf as a
shawl.

"Hopefully Dad can keep him
entertained," I said. "I'll work swiftly."

The lair was a wreck. The cauldron was
smudged with soot, and the ingredients had scattered. The grasswort vial was
broken and the contents useless, but that was all right. I was replacing it
with Poison Lyceria anyway. The newborn tears were still fine, and a few
mushrooms still seemed usable. I searched around the lair and found another pea
spider's web. The toad eggs were okay, and the bottle of rat urine was sideways
but still had enough inside for another batch.

I couldn't find the hair of the virgin,
though. Dang. Even if my hair had been red, well, yeah. I didn't exactly
qualify. I looked at Hallow. He raised his paws. "Don't look at me. I'm a
ferret lothario."

I had to think. If we could substitute
poison for grasswort, then maybe we could replace the hair of the virgin with
something else. Why did it have to be a virgin's hair anyway?

I arranged the ingredients for quick
mixing and flipped through the Book of Shadows, which was pristine despite the
explosion. I needed a protection spell as good as that.

Cookbooks always had a list of
substitutions. Maybe this one had something similar. The handwriting of the
spells at the front of the book was done in calligraphy, like the one at
Martel's house. "Æ ábelgan," one said, and scribbled below,
"Anger Rite."

Didn't need any more of that around here.

I thumbed through others, some without
modern notations, then skipped through blank pages to the back. A last page was
titled "ǽrendraca." Below it said, "proxy." Hopefully
this was it.

Some of the words were still in the old
language, but farther down the list they became normal again.

Werewolf teeth — substitute wolf
teeth for level 3 and under

Hempfly larvae — monarch butterfly
larvae works for most spells

I scanned the list. The only reference to
hair was a warning never to replace enchanter hair with nix hair.

"That didn't help," I told
Hallow, who was punching a paw into his bed and recoiling from the soot.

"You need to learn some household
spells." He pushed aside a pile of papers to uncover a knit hat that I
recognized as Mom's. He curled up inside it, and my chest tightened,
remembering the bright red stripes covering her hair in winters past.

"I need Mom. She didn't prepare me
for this."

"She couldn't have seen this coming.
You'd been perfectly hidden for twenty years."

"Who ratted us out?" I turned
the book back to the passion-potion spell, not sure what I'd do without virgin
hair.

"Tess had no idea. But everyone knew
Gem had a daughter. They just had to search."

"Now that I'm marked as a Golden,
should we try those shops for more hair?"

"Not until I've had a nap."

"Hallow!" I snatched the hat
and tumbled him out of it. "Do you think it's safe to leave the lair for a
while?" I'd left Dad with Dei Lucrii. Not good. Not good. "Will
anyplace be open on Christmas?"

"I'll let you go find out."

He really was a little rat. "I'm
going to change your name to Rodent."

The ferret didn't even flinch. "Your
insults mean nothing to me."

I approached the pewter bowl, wishing I
could see Caleb. My stomach clenched, picturing the last time I saw him, as he
disappeared into nothing. "What did Genevieve's mom do to Caleb?"

"Dissolve spell. Standard issue.
Pretty bloody uncomfortable, I hear. You become a spirit for about twelve
hours."

Even with the drive, only about four
hours had passed. I shook the bowl, bringing up the mist. "Mavis? Are you
there?" She was probably still mad.

But the face that came up was Rah's.

"What are you doing in your mom's
lair?"

"She's trying to fix Christmas
dinner. I've been sitting here forever trying to figure out how to use this
thing."

"It's a portal, but I don't think
you can come through it by yourself, since you're human." I couldn't see a
mark on her, and her true nature would be visible to me.

"Tell me about this guy." Her
pink hair was down now, and she tugged at the ends nervously. "I like the
rich part."

"He's one of the most powerful
enchanters of this generation," I said. "But he's not a good kind."

"Like the bad boy of magic?"
Her eyes lit up.

"More like the big bad guy."

"So you can make this guy like
me?"

"I think so."

"And I can't screw it up even if I
try?"

I glanced at Hallow. He shrugged.

"Yeah."

"Okay, so here's what I know."
She held the portal with both hands, and her face was so close I had to back
away. "Mom said that if I saw you again, no matter what, do NOT give you
one of my hairs." She grasped a thick hunk of it. "I'm guessing that
means you could use it in your spell."

I paced in a circle. What if I did use
her hair instead of a virgin's? "Wait a second." I remembered another
spell I had passed in the book. I flipped through. Yes, this one Mom had
apparently used a few times. "Be Agreeable," the spell said. For a
version called "To the random lady at the DMV," she'd used virgin
hairs. But for one, she'd substituted the actual hair of one of my teachers.
Ms. Morgan. I totally remembered her. Big. Mean. And, nice to me. Oh, that Mom!
She'd put a spell on her to save me sitting in the corner all the time!

But wait, if she used virgin hair when
she didn't know someone, and the actual hair when she did know them, that meant
a virgin hair created an open spell, to be used on anyone.

If I had an actual hair, it could be for
someone in particular.

"I've got it. I'll come for your
hair."

"I want to see this guy first."
Rah glanced behind her. "Someone's coming."

"He's at my house with Dad. Can you
get away?"

She nodded. "I will." She moved
away, and all I could see was the wall of the lair.

We had a plan.